2010 Games Cauldron to be repaired

Council Briefs: FCM coming to resort, DeJong joins council committee

Repairs neededA Request for Proposals has gone out to fix the 2010 Olympic Cauldron, which is showing signs of wear and tear.

Whistler is looking for a company to fix up its 2010 Olympic Cauldron, which is showing some wear and tear in the five years since the Games

A Request For Proposals was released last week.

The RFP document states: "The Cauldron is exhibiting significant signs of wear. The outer shell has fractures and blemishes, both structurally and cosmetically, and there is substantial separation of panels, possibly due to freeze/thaw cycles."

The structural connection between the inner frame and the panels also needs to be repaired.

The Cauldron was designed and assembled for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games and was intended for relatively short-term outdoor Games use.

"However, its popularity, combined with the success of the Games, lead (sic) to it being donated to the RMOW who relocated it to its current location."

The Cauldron, a unique piece of Whistler public art, sits at the edge of Whistler Olympic Plaza. It has become a popular photo spot.

It has internal gas plumbing but the municipality has abandoned that portion of the design.

There is a $40,000 budget in the municipal Five Year Financial Plan associated with this project.

Another meeting coup

Whistler will welcome another high-profile meeting in 2017.

The municipality bid on, and secured, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities board of directors meeting March 14-17, 2017.

The board of directors is made up of elected municipal officials and affiliate members from communities throughout Canada.

It is a much smaller affair than the main FCM conference, which brings together close to 2,000 delegates annually. Whistler hosted the main conference in 2009.

Though smaller, the board of directors FCM meeting carries weight and is one more high-profile meeting to add to Whistler's meeting business.

Council picks DeJong for committee

It may not be the top table of municipal public office as he originally planned, but Whistler Blackcomb's Arthur DeJong is now on a committee of council.

At Tuesday's meeting Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden announced DeJong was chosen in a closed-door meeting to sit on the longstanding Forests and Wildlands Advisory Committee (FWAC), which advises on matters related to forestry, public and commercial backcountry recreation, wildlife management and the Cheakamus Community Forest.

DeJong withdrew from the council race leading up to November's election after internal counsel at Whistler Blackcomb, where DeJong is the environmental resource manager, voiced concerns about potential conflict of interest.

In announcing his appointment, Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden took time to thank the roughly 120 community members who sit on 17 committees of council.